Top 10 YouTube Ads In January: “Clash Of Clans” Takes The Lead 2nd Month In A Row

YouTube's first ad leaderboard of 2016 is dominated by video games and politicians.

For the second month in a row, Supercell’s “Clash of Clans” video game took the top two spots on YouTube’s ad leaderboard, with its “Traps” spot at No. 1 earning 18.6 million views, followed by “A Special Map” ad with 11 million views.

January’s top ads were dominated by video games and politicians. “Clash of Clans,” “Boom Beach,” “Pokémon,” “Candy Crush” and Drone Racing League’s “The Sport of the Future” all ranked, along with spots from Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz and a two-minute anti-Trump spot from Our Principles PAC.

The top two “Clash of Clans” ads feature actor Christoph Waltz, who also starred in three of the four “Clash of Clans” ads to make December’s top 10 list.

In addition to its “Clash of Clans” spots, Supercell’s “Boom Beach” made it into the list at No. 4, with 3.4 million views, earning the video game company a combined 33 million views for the month.

Released January 25, Pokémon’s “#Pokemon20” was the only Super Bowl ad to make the list. In six days’ time, the spot generated more than 10 million views to rank No. 3.

Purina’s BuzzFeed “Dear Kitten” video was the only non-game, non-political ad to make last month’s ad leaderboard.

Top 10 YouTube Ads in January

1. Clash of Clans: Traps (18.6M views)

2. Clash of Clans: A Special Map (11M views)

3. Pokémon: #Pokemon20 Super Bowl Commercial (10.6M views)

4. Boom Beach: Dr. T’s Song (3.4M views)

5. Bernie Sanders: America (2.8M views)

6. Drone Racing League: The Sport of the Future (1.4M views)

7. Candy Crush: Meet the real Jelly Queen (1.3M views)

8. Purina/BuzzFeed Video: Dear Kitten Beginnings (825K views)

9. Ted Cruz: Invasion (624K views)

10. Our Principles PAC: The Trump Tapes, Vol. 1 (587K views)

According to YouTube, this is the first time ever that political ads have ranked on the US ads leaderboard. January’s top 10 ads won a combined 50 million views, accounting for nine million minutes of watch time.

About The Author

Amy Gesenhues is Third Door Media's General Assignment Reporter, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs.com, SoftwareCEO.com, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.